Northland and Hastings Councils must respect voters' choice on Māori wards

Responding to the news that the Northland Regional Council and Hastings District Council may join Palmerston North City Council in attempting to ignore the Government’s Māori wards law, ACT’s Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton has said:

“Ratepayers struggling to make ends meet in the face of double-digit rate hikes expect their councillors to focus on the basics. Instead, councillors are using their privileged positions to grandstand against a Government they don’t like.

“What do councillors have to fear from allowing the people to vote in a referendum? They’re worried a referendum won’t deliver the result they want, but that’s democracy.

“ACT believes voters are capable of making decisions together as a community, not as two separate groups divided by race, because the basic problems councils exist to solve are not race-based.

“These three Councils are playing with fire. The elected Government has been very clear in its requirement for councils to repeal Māori wards or put them to a referendum. Coming from Tauranga I’ve experienced firsthand one option available to the Minister – having the council replaced with commissioners. That would be an even bigger blow to democracy than the council refusing a referendum.”

Other councils, including the Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Horizons Regional Council, have voted to keep their Māori wards and then complained of the cost of holding a poll.

“Councils can avoid the cost of having a referendum by voting to get rid of their Māori ward.”